Some CEO’s seem to think that AI is a Magic Button. They assume that immediately and automatically, marketing can suddenly do 30% more, with 30% less. This hype cycle has without a doubt been perpetrated by strategy consultants that don’t execute and understand how to implement AI programs in marketing functions, and the agency landscape. And, agencies and software companies intent on selling their wares.
This expectation and FOMO – fear of missing out – is leading to huge pressure being heaped on CMO’s and other marketing leaders.
AI is not a magic button. It is not even a thing in its own right. Many of the claims made of it are highly spurious, and ignore the talent, time, cost and key enablers to implement AI enabled processes, that lead to benefits.
So, given that we at Flock are at the sharp end of implementing many AI use cases in marketing, what do we think are the five smart moves that CMO’s and Marketing Leaders should make?
- Start With Strategy. What are your key marketing strategies? What are the biggest opportunities and pain points to fulfill those strategies? Is there a legitimate role where AI can dramatically impact these? Too many companies have identified technologies or use cases that are disconnected from big wins; huge energy/time/money is being spent on topics that don’t shift the dial
- Business Case Before Build. Have you built the business case to include all shadow costs, token inflation, maintenance costs and potentially declining outcomes over time? Do you have an action standard at which point your tests scale globally and can be fully funded? Many companies are only just beginning to realize the true cost of AI, including the environmental load, and may not be able to maintain their full set of use cases, especially if some of the hype driven benefits don’t materialize.
- Make It Integrated. A successful AI assisted program will probably require changes to skills, roles, processes, definitely data, agency ways of working, contracts, and other technologies. It is not an individual responsibility, a department, or a function. You need agile squads working together, and squads & squads working together to join up programs into a cohesive integrated system. Too many advertisers have “one shot” use cases, pilots, or technologies with no overall design or integration. This will build an enterprise “tech debt” that will be a nightmare to integrate down the line.
- Be Tech Agnostic. Focus on the broad use case and serve that, don’t focus on a technology. For example focus on generating wins in “Content adaptation and localisation” rather than on implementing a specific technology. Build the data layers, brand safety, compliance and all other requirements in a fashion that is tech agnostic. With companies racing for the future many that are hot for a moment are left behind mere weeks later, you need to be able to change platforms and components as required and not become beholden to one solution.
- Building Human Capability. The best way to win in AI in marketing is having a human marketing team that is skilled, structured, inspired and trained to create AI ideas that help their work, and know how to work together to achieve their goals. Many programs are creating AI silos and solos, and disenfranchising marketing teams. Much investment is going on tech, not human development and capabilities. Building marketing capabilities with AI baked in, Job Descriptions and review systems that are clear on individual & team contributions and rewards, and learning & development programs are more essential than a bit of AI software.
There are more than five smart plays, of course, but these “mega plays” help hold AI at the level of Strategic Marketing Transformation, rather than letting it become the tactical whack-a-mole game it has become in some advertisers. They allow CMOs to push back on, and work constructively with, their C-Suite peers to unlock the advantages of AI, without getting caught in an AI piñata: lots of people taking swings, plenty of noise and excitement, but very little connection to a coherent marketing strategy.
If you’d like to know more about Marketing AI Strategy and implementation then let us know, we’d be delighted to show you how to avoid the traps.
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